Born a Crime

Towards the end of Born a Crime, Trevor Noah talks about the time he was arrested under suspicion of stealing a car. He pauses to explain how this all works in South Africa - the difference between jail and prison, what a bail hearing is, what happens if you can't make bail. It's a shitty, rigged system. Then he points out that it's basically the same system we have in America.

Noah's memoir of growing up in South Africa during and immediately after Apartheid is full of stuff like this. The racism there is formalized and explicit. His very existence is against the law, and he spends his childhood never quite fitting in anywhere because no one quite knows how to classify him. But he reminds the audience again and again, sometimes subtly and other times less so, that this is hardly unique to South Africa. They studied things that worked and didn't work around the world, and the US was one of their primary sources of inspiration.

The book itself is really interesting. Noah has a fantastic sense of humor that allows him to relay some of the worst things that happened to him in a more palatable manner. His gallows humor comes from his mom, and their bond really shines through this book. It was a pleasure to read about her determination and resourcefulness and how she passed those traits on to her son.

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